Surviving Wounded Knee: The Lakotas and the Politics of Memory by David W. Grua (review)

On December 29, 1890, soldiers in the United States Army killed upwards of 230 Lakota, most of whom were unarmed women and children. Historians have studied this event, now known as the Wounded Knee Massacre, in great depth. They have explored its causes, its minute-byminute details, and its place within the broader narrative of western history. Mass murder is a difficult subject, and we are indebted to those who worked to uncover these stories. Yet in recent years, historians—Jill Lepore, Karl Jacoby, and Ari Kelman, to name a few—have started to look beyond violent events themselves to examine deeper questions of memory. Surviving Wounded Knee is an eloquent and persuasive addition to that trend. In the book, Grua argues that the survivors of Wounded Knee and their descendants found ways to fight for compensation and subvert the official army narrative, which claimed that the massacre had been a “battle” between brave Americans and bloodthirsty Indians.

Grua begins his narrative with Lewis and Clark and provides a smart, concise history of the Lakota nation. He focuses on race, and shows that as early as the 1803 expedition, Americans categorized the Lakota as “savage” and “hostile,” a racial other (12). For Grua, this perception carried all the way forward to 1890. When, in response to terrible reservation conditions, thousands of Lakota turned to a spiritual movement known as the Ghost Dance, government officials panicked and called in the army (21). The massacre followed. But for Grua, the massacre is just the beginning of a deeper story of propaganda and truth. Colonel James Forsyth, the commanding officer of the massacre, “labored vigorously to shape how Wounded Knee would be remembered” (55). He supported the creation of a monument to the soldiers, and secured Medals of Honor for twenty of his men (72). His efforts convinced the public to see the event as a climactic battle between civilization and savagery. Yet the survivors of Wounded Knee fought for decades to propagate their own version. They erected a memorial to the “Chief Big Foot Massacre,” told their stories to ethnographers, filed claims in the US Court of Claims, and in the 1930s brought their demands to the House of Representatives (92). Though their bill failed—opponents feared the precedent it would set—the Lakota managed to uproot the official government narrative (171).

Grua’s book is meticulously researched and well written, but his focus on racism means he downplays other important factors: the economic goals and political allegiances that often drove conflicts with Native Americans and negative media portrayals. Still, Surviving Wounded Knee is a powerful and provocative lens for anyone interested in questions of violence and memory, conquest and resistance. Scholars and teachers of the American West will benefit not only from the book’s insightful content, but from the troubling questions it raises about our nation’s violent policies, and their legacy.